Saltwater Aquarium 101

2008-12-13T10:34:00.025-05:00

So you want to start a saltwater aquarium, but you don't know where to begin. Well you've come to the right place. If you are a beginner in the hobby, I am sure you have noticed that the internet is full of information on the topic, but that it is scattered and sometimes contradictory. Hopefully you will find the information here to be useful, thorough and easy to understand.

Know what you like and what you want to keep. Do you like fish or coral? What do you want your tank to be mostly of? This one step will make everything else much easier. It will allow you to choose the right size aquarium, the right type of set-up, and will allow you to buy the right equipment in order to keep everything that you want. Many things in the saltwater hobby are not compatible, so, knowing what you want will allow you to set up a tank that gives you the things you want to keep the most.

Saltwater Aquariums are not as expensive as you think. It costs less than most pets.
Most of the expense is incurred when you purchase your aquarium setup. Once the
aquarium is running your next major expense is usually the fish. Other expenses
include fish foods, cleaning equipment, marine salt mix and water additives.
Food expenses vary according to the type of fish you have, how many and how
large they are. Cleaning equipment such as a siphon and bucket are only
purchased once. Products to clean the glass of algae are only replaced when they
wear out. Most scrapers and cleaning magnets last for years.
Most filters use a pad, cartridge or media that is replaced monthly.

Saltwater Aquarium

The first thing that you must decide before setting up a new saltwater aquarium is what type of system you would like to have--i.e. what you want to keep in your aquarium. There are three basic types of saltwater systems: fish only, fish only with live rock and reef aquarium.

When deciding how to set up your saltwater aquarium, you should not only consider what you want to start out with, but also what you may want to do in the future. Even if you are only interested in having saltwater fish right now, there is a good chance that, after being in the hobby for a little while, you might want to start moving toward a reef tank.

What do I need to start a saltwater aquarium?
Well, for the type of saltwater fish tank setup (marine aquarium) described in this article you will need the following equipment:

* Aquarium
* Aquarium Photo Background or Paint the background
* Aquarium substrate such as live sand or crushed coral
* Live Rock
* Saltwater Mix
* Saltwater Hydrometer or even better a refractometer
* Aquarium filter (not absolutely necessary if running with adequate amounts of live rock, but nice to have if you need to use a mechanical filter or activated carbon, etc.)
* Replacement filter media like filter floss and activated carbon (if you get a filter)
* Multiple Powerheads (2 or 3)
* Heater - be sure to get one large enough for the size tank you're getting
* Protein Skimmer - See the equipment reviews section for protein skimmer reviews
* Saltwater test kit(s) to test water parameters and monitor the infamous aquarium nitrogen cycle
* Saltwater fish food
* Aquarium vacuum
* Fish net
* Rubber kitchen gloves
* Aquarium Glass Scrubber
* Two, clean, never used before, 5-gallon buckets
* Aquarium thermometer
* Brush with plastic bristles (old tooth brush) - needed for cleaning the live rock
* Quarantine Tank for acclimating new arrivals and monitoring for signs of fish disease
* Power Strip
* Optional but definitely recommend getting a Reverse Osmosis or RO/Deionization filter for the make-up water.

What size aquarium should I purchase if I want to keep saltwater fish?

This is a great question, which has recently become more confusing with the popularity of the "Nano" aquariums. "Nano" aquariums are small, generally between 3 and 28 gallons. There are a lot of hobbyists who keep saltwater fish and even live corals (reefs) successfully in these aquariums. Many have created beautiful and healthy Nano aquariums.

So, yes you can start with a small aquarium but let me share with you the advantages to keeping a larger aquarium.

The larger the aquarium the more forgiving it will be. For instance, let's say you go on vacation and have a friend or roommate feed your fish. Your friend thinks your fish look really hungry and over feeds them. In a small size aquarium this extra food makes a mess and ruins water quality. Should you have a large aquarium, it is more apt to handle the decomposing [extra] food.

Water conditions change more slowly in large volumes of water than in small amounts of water. Let us look at the temperature. In an aquarium we use a heater to keep the temperature stable. A good heater will only allow the water temperature to fluctuate one or two degrees. But if you live in an area where you have brown outs or your power goes off for periods of time, your aquarium temperature can change significantly in a short time when you have a small aquarium. The larger the volume of water the slower the temperature will change.

One of the basic rules of aquarium keeping is to keep your aquarium as stable as possible. So any changes to the water should be made very slowly.

Part of the fun of keeping an aquarium is going to the store to choose new fish. What a great family event! Fish keeping is a wonderful hobby and it is always fun to get new fish and watch their antics. If you have a small aquarium you run out of room very quickly. For the most part, you buy juvenile fish that will double, or triple or more in size. They need room to grow. Nano aquariums limit you to few fish while larger aquariums allow room to add more.

The guide gives you the rules of how many fish to stock for each gallon of water.

I usually suggest starting with a 29-gallon aquarium minimum to give you the greatest chance for success.

MORE TO COME!!!

In the mean time check out the links below!!

1-Roadmap for Starting A Reef Tank

2-Expert's Guide to Saltwater Aquariums

3-Scientific Secrets To Thriving Saltwater Aquariums
Made Easy”

4-Tropical Fish Secrets!